Keep pulling the thread on Bob Oros.
A key criterion for Hightower Advisors when evaluating RIA acquisitions is a demonstrated history of consistent same-store sales growth, independent of market performance.
Hightower Advisors acquired NEPC, one of the largest institutional investment consulting firms in the United States.
A primary strategic reason for Hightower Advisors' acquisition of NEPC was to centralize its investment operations and standardize asset allocation models, moving away from having 140 different versions.
Hightower Advisors shifted its growth strategy from recruiting individual advisors out of large firms to acquiring entire Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) businesses.
Bob Oros predicts that Hightower Advisors' average client allocation to private markets will increase from 5-6% to 12-15% over the next three to five years.
Hightower Advisors and NEPC plan to launch their first joint private markets investment vehicle in the first half of the current year, with an expectation of raising at least $100 million for each such vehicle.
Under CEO Bob Oros, assets in Hightower Advisors' outsourced investment solutions program, led by Stephanie Link, have grown from $300 million to over $6 billion.
Bob Oros predicts a new phase of consolidation in the RIA industry where large platform firms, such as those with $20-30 billion in AUM, will merge with each other to achieve greater institutional scale.
Hightower Advisors has expanded its capabilities to include trust services, deep estate planning expertise, and tax preparation.
Hightower Advisors' acquisition philosophy is to acquire firms that are already growing, as they do not believe they can successfully transform a non-growing firm into a growing one.
Hightower Advisors' typical M&A deal structure involves an asset purchase of 100% of a firm's assets, which are primarily client relationships.
Hightower Advisors offers flexible deal structures where it acquires 100% of an RIA's assets but may only purchase a portion of the economics upfront, allowing selling advisors to retain "skin in the game."